Required Reading
By Angela Arlia

A summer reading list, a bookish young girl, and the lazy, hazy days of summer.  Angela describes a passion for the written word that started young and changed her life.

always looked forward to every summer break during my youth. Not only was it a chance to be out in the sun and enjoying the weather but it also brought with it the obligatory summer reading list. (Yay! Ok, some of you probably hated this but I loved it!)  The books that I had to read were different than some of the books my friends and family had to read, as individual schools issued their own reading lists. In spite of this difference, I couldn’t wait until the last few days of school to receive the list of books I would be responsible for once the next school year started.

I first skimmed the list to get an idea of the books—if there was a theme to the list or if it was a haphazardly compilation of classics. Then I perused the list, carefully taking note of each title.  Finally, I’d intensely study it to determine which books I’d read for the summer. Unlike some of my classmates who waited until the last month of summer break to read their mandatory four or five books, I started my list on the first day of summer vacation. Usually by the end of that month, I’d be close to finishing my stack of mandatory books (sometimes I was already done). To avoid boredom, I’d even read some extras. (Yes, I was a nerd!) By the end of the summer, I’d pick the books I liked the best to write my book reports or to write essays about on the first day back to school.

It’s funny:  Although I know I read a lot of books during those summers, I don’t remember the summer reads nearly as well as the books we read during the school year—the Jane Austens, the Charles Dickenses, and the Shakespeares. Something about discussing these books—their plots and characters—in a group setting always made them far more memorable.

I will certainly never forget the English classes where we talked about “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” It’s impossible for me not to recall those sessions because they were some of the best discussions I’ve ever partaken in. The laughter and confusion that we experienced while reading and discussing that play mimicked almost completely the confusion in the play itself. It was pure joy.

I had intended, when I set out to write this article, to talk about how much a particular book influenced me, but in reliving the book-diving of my youth, I realized that so many books I’ve read have influenced me that I couldn’t narrow it down to just one. I only hope that, summer readers or no, a majority of people have at least one book that they can say changed their view of the world, as the books I read as a young girl changed mine.